


Apple & Thorn

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Schneewittchen | Snow White (Fairy Tale), Sleeping Beauty (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Apples, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreamsharing, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen or Pre-Slash, M!Sleeping Beauty, M!Snow White, M/M, Rule 63, Rule 63 Exchange 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25733668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: As if it hadn't already been irritating enough that a scorned faerie had cursed Prince Jecht to spend one hundred years in a slumber so deep that only a kiss from a loved one could wake him, he also appeared to be trapped in a shared dreamscape with Bain - some soft, spoiled prince from a neighbouring kingdom.
Relationships: Sleeping Beauty/Snow White
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14
Collections: Rule 63 Exchange 2020





	Apple & Thorn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



Bain leaned back against a red-barked tree whose branches shivered, shaking off some of the snow, and gave Jecht a lopsided grin. He didn't seem to mind when the snow kissed his rosy cheeks.

"Come here often?" Prince Jecht rolled his eyes. As if it hadn't already been irritating enough that a scorned faerie had cursed him to spend one hundred years in a slumber so deep that only a kiss from a loved one could wake him, he _also_ appeared to be trapped in a shared dreamscape with some soft, spoiled prince from a neighbouring kingdom. It was just his luck.

"If only I did," he replied, "for that would imply I was able to _leave."_ Bain's expression changed for a moment when he reached up and plucked an apple from the tree, even redder than its back, and brushed the snow off with his sleeve.

He didn't eat it.

That was how he ended up here, in this strange limbo between conscious and unconscious, life and death. Eating a poisoned apple, or maybe choking on the core - Bain couldn't quite remember, because whatever the cause was, his heart had stopped beating. He wasn't _entirely_ sure if it was a cursed sleep or a regular old coma.

"Sometimes I think I can sense things," Bain murmured. "You know, from the _real_ world." Jecht heard the question he hadn't asked.

"I don't." Bain tilted his head, then tossed the apple to Jecht. "Thanks, I guess. As long as this one's not...you know." If it had been one of his parents, or maybe his godmothers, Jecht might have been more inclined to be truthful, but the fact was that he just didn't know Bain _that_ well. It was difficult to form the words to describe the thorny tendrils that would erupt from the snow, grasping for his ankles, or when he felt a fiery beast's breath on the back of his neck. He'd been here since long before Bain arrived but, cursed to wander his dreams as it were, he had no reliable way of measuring time. His body slept, yet here he was, wide awake, for what felt like all of eternity. That sort of thing could drive a person mad.

"I feel like I'm being watched," Bain continued, evidently unwilling to drop the subject, "as though I'm on _display_." That was certainly a disquieting thought, but not one that Jecht could claim to share with him. Perhaps there _was_ something to Bain's theory about things in the material world bleeding into this one - it could account for some of the strange differences in their otherwise shared experiences. Bain felt as if he were being watched, while Jecht felt alone. _Apples_ made sense. But where did all the _thorns_ come from?

"What are the royal gardens like at Whitehaven Castle?" he asked, as casually as if they were at one of their parents' parties, chatting over a glass of chilled rosé. Bain threw him a puzzled look, and then gestured to the snow all around them.

"A few snowdrops - not much grows. People visit our 'gardens' for the ice sculptures." Nothing thorny, then. Bain bit his lip, which was usually a sign that something was troubling him, which in turn suggested that he was about to overshare. "There was one of my mother. It was beautiful. _She_ was beautiful." Ah, yes - there it was. "It was...removed." Jecht remembered seeing Bain's mother at court once, when he was very young. She had seemed a kind and lively woman, and he was saddened to imagine one of the last memories of her melting away.

"I'm sorry," he said feebly. He hadn't known her well enough that he could grieve with him, and he hadn't known the pain of losing a loved one, so there wasn't much else he could say. It seemed to be enough for Bain, anyway. It wasn't that Jecht _disliked_ him - only that the two of them had very little in common besides their mutual entrapment in a cursed dreamland and Bain was, well, a bit useless. Jecht had spent a year looking for a way out, some kind of loophole to break the curse, before he'd stopped trying to count the days. Bain, evidently, had been content to spend around a third of his time brooding, another third moping, and the final third pretending not to flirt with Jecht. Maybe if they really had been sipping rosé together at a party, he would have been far more receptive to the latter...but not _here_ , and not _now_.

It was by biting into the apple that he broke the silence. It was crisp yet juicy, and tasted sweet, but the kind of sweet that wasn't _too_ sweet. He didn't ask Bain if that was how his apple had tasted.

"Can I ask _you_ something that might be a little more, ah...personal than gardens?" Jecht took his time chewing the apple, wondering if Bain was going to ask him _that_ question. He was surprised it had taken him so long, to be quite honest. While Jecht had been anticipating this moment, he hadn't been looking forward to it. But it seemed only fair.

"You want to know why _I'm_ here."

"Well, yes. That is, if you want to tell me. If it's hard for you to talk about then-"

"No, it's alright." He sighed, looking down at the apple instead of at Bain. There was never going to be a 'right' time for this, so he might as well get it over with while he had the opportunity and before it got weird. "I pricked my finger-"

"That doesn't make any-"

"-when I was using an _enchanted spinning wheel."_

"That makes more sense. So...what kind of yarn were you making?" Jecht frowned. Bain was an odd sort, being interested in the yarn he was spinning rather than asking why on earth the _prince_ was wasting his time at a spinning wheel, enchanted or otherwise. When he remained quiet too long, Bain continued. "I sometimes knit myself, so I've tried a few. It's a reasonably useful skill in a kingdom besieged by snow most of the year."

"Angora."

"That's _amazing._ I tried spinning once or twice, but my yarn would always break and I was too lazy to keep practising." Bain smiled again, and this time Jecht smiled back. It was good to find they had _some_ common ground after all, and who knew? Maybe he'd discover they were more alike than he'd thought. 


End file.
